Think I needed new plugs?

[Mike W.]

Warning, E36 content, or perhaps I should say M52. Assuming the prior owner had changed them when they would have been scheduled, I would have had about 45K on them. Which I did to the E28 one time and only saw moderate wear and no difference with new plugs. But I knew he may very well not have done it, but I just can't get into this car, so I should have looked into it earlier. But yesterday I took the plunge. Wow. I've never seen plugs this worn. The pic came out kind of crappy for some reason, I've never liked this camera which is why it ends up taking garage pictures. But I think they must have been original at 155K! I mean look at the center electrode, it's pyramid shaped, what's left of it. And you'd need friggin' drill bits to measure the gap, not feeler gauges. And I was still getting 28MPG, rev to redline smooth as silk with no check engine codes.

[1st 5er]

To answer your original question, Yes!
But... based on your last comment, I would've guessed no.

[mechacode]

I should've taken pictures of the ones I pulled out of the jeep we picked up right after we got it. Three of the six plugs were worn halfway through, the gap was completely closed by carbon, the straps were like triangles and the electrodes were needle tips. I figure they were in there for at least 100k if not longer.

[djazz]

What brand plugs? The fact that your car was fine with those plugs speaks to how great a car it is.

Right?

So I'm not the only one that doesn't get the E36?

Oh sure they're great cars. PK drives an awesome 328 with tons of M goodies. Fit and finish are impeccable. Wonderful ergonomics. That car should sell me on them. But it doesn't. Can't really explain it. There's just no chemistry.

Oh well, at least you caught it before it became a problem.